‘It’s been a long coming!’ Area residents elated to buy groceries locally again — without driving to Fairbanks
A new grocery store opened Wednesday in Delta Junction, more than two years after the old store’s roof collapsed under a heavy snow load. Hundreds of area residents turned out to finally be able to shop locally for groceries.
The new IGA Food Cache was bustling with shoppers on opening day, and the reviews were positive.
“Hey, it’s good!” Dave Davenport said. “It’s been a long (time) coming! Y’know, what, two and a half years, something like that, since the old store roof caved in.”
Davenport and just about everyone else in town has been making-do for the last two years with basic provisions available at a local liquor store, and regular grocery runs to Fairbanks. Luckily, Delta-area dairy and meat shop helped fill the gap with locally produced milk, eggs and meat.
“The store’s nice, clean, and comparable prices to Fairbanks on a lot of stuff,” he said, lugging a couple of bulging bags of groceries. “I got more stuff than I came in to get!”
Lucy Dunham also was fired-up as she approached the front door of the new IGA.
“I’m really happy it’s open, and I’m going in for my first time!” she said.
Inside the new store, bins were bursting with colorful fruits and veggies, a winter rarity in Delta over the last two years. And shelf stockers were busy trying to keep up with customers like Sergey Gayvoronskiy.
“I like it! (laughs), “ he said, as his wife was making her way up and down the aisles. “Y’know, it saves us so much money driving to Fairbanks trying to get our stuff, but now it’s all right here. So, it’s great.”
Almost all of it is right here. Some parts of the store, like the deli and the bakery, aren’t open yet, and store owner Ed Larson is still waiting for freezers and coolers. There aren’t even any signs outside the store yet to identify it as an I-G-A franchise. All mainly because of supply-chain issues triggered by the pandemic.
“The worst timing ever, just right as covid was getting going,” he said in an interview in a side room, away from the hubbub.
Ed’s son Jeff, who manages a Seattle-based wholesale produce outlet, has been helping the family get the store finished and open while his 78-year-old dad deals with health issues.
“That chaos going on,” he said, “trying to rebuild at that time, when there was no equipment available, compressors were impossible, back-ordered for months. It turned out to be years.”
Compounding those problems were the usual difficulties of running a multi-year construction project in a small Alaskan town, including getting inspections and permits and overcoming stubborn labor and contractor shortages.
“Finding a contractor that would come in here, into the middle of Alaska, through a summer and winter, that’s capable of building a building like this, was next to impossible.”
Jeff says all those challenges would’ve discouraged most entrepreneurs. But he says his dad and Ed’s wife, Gayle, stuck with the project, because of their dedication to the community where they relocated to 35 years ago to buy a struggling grocery store that they turned into a successful business.
“The easy thing would’ve been to take a fat check from the insurance company, walk away and let someone else rebuild,” Jeff said. “But they didn’t.”
Larson says his family appreciates Delta’s patience and loyalty as the family has worked to overcome those challenges. He predicts they’ll be able to resolve all the remaining issues within the next month or so. And to show their appreciation, they plan to hold a grand opening event this summer.
